Week 8 of the season consisted of four outstanding games in the WIAC, as each game was decided by 10 points or less. In my opinion, this was probably the best week of football in WIAC thus far, with three of the four games coming down to a team's final drive. Whitewater's Eric Kindler drove home a game-winning 17-yard field goal (which I didn't think was mathematically possible, but oh well) with 1:18 left in the game. The Titans got the ball back with a little more than a minute to go, and was able to drive down to the Warhawks' 40-yard line. However, a Nate Wara Hail-Mary attempt came up short and the Warhawks extended its winning streak to 37 games with that 20-17 win. The Stevens Point/Eau Claire game had concluded in similar fashion. Points' QB Mitch Beau punched it in from one-yard out to give Stevens Point a four-point lead with 14 seconds left. That proved to be too little time for the Blugolds to construct a game-winning drive. Eau Claire's Austin Neu was able to lead his team down to Points' 15-yard line, but then time had expired on his game-winning attempt. Point held on for the heart-pounding 28-24 win. Over in River Falls, the Falcons' Chad Blair drilled a 21-yard field goal with 1:18 left to tie the game. Only needing a field goal for the win, the Pioneers were able to drive down to the Falcons' seven-yard line and perfectly setup Zach Litchfield's game-winning field goal, as Platteville won a barn burner 34-31. That brings us to the Stout/La Crosse game. This game wasn't quite decided on the game's final drive, but the outcome was still in-doubt late in the fourth quarter. With 5:44 left, Stout's Eric Brown scored the game's first touchdown from three yards out. The Eagle's couldn't get anything going offensively as the Blue Devils won, 10-0.
Game of The Week
Platteville Pioneers (4-3, 2-2) Eau Claire Blugolds (4-3, 2-2)
VS
Platteville
The Pioneers narrowly escaped being "that" team that gives River Falls its first win of the season last Saturday. Head Coach Mike Emendorfer will attempt to feed off of the win to finish off the season strong for his seniors. Personally, I really thought Platteville was going to be a stronger team that their 4-3 record indicates (but injuries have been playing a big reason for that). While undermanned, I thought they played a very talented Whitewater team extremely tough a few weeks ago on the road before heading into its bye week. Then with two weeks to prepare (and nurse some injuries) for the Oshkosh game, they seemed anything but prepared as they lost their homecoming 24-3. The season almost nearly took a turn for the worst last week, as they barely snuck by a weak River Falls team 34-31. The win mainly was attributed to the play of wide receiver Aaron Loferski. The sophomore was named WIAC's Offensive Athlete of the Week, catching six passes for 139 yards and a touchdown. Those 31 points was the most River Falls scored all
season long in a game. This is a trend Platteville doesn't want to continue considering Eau Claire is one of the better scoring offenses in the conference. With UWRF being one of the worst. Platteville now comes home to face a very frustrated (and dangerous) Eau Claire team. The Pioneers are still hobbled by injuries with back up QB John Kelly suffering an ankle injury late in the game at River Falls. This forced Nick Anderson to come in for their final (game winning) drive, even though he wasn't 100%. Even with their injuries the Pioneers have been holding its own offensively. They are ranked fourth in the conference scoring nearly 21 points per game. That's mainly credited to their passing attack that ranks third in the WIAC with 205.3 ypg. On defense, the Pioneers have done an excellent job against the run giving up only 139.4 ypg, good enough for second in the conference. Coach Emendorfer will be facing a Blugold team that converts 46.3% of its third downs, which ranks second in the WIAC. This will be something to keep an eye on, b/c the Pioneers are allowing the opposition to convert 43.6% of its third downs this season (second worst in the WIAC). The last thing Platteville wants to do is have UWEC sustain long drives and control the clock, especially with Austin Neu taking the snaps for the Blugolds.Eau Claire
There's only one word that describes the Blugold's game last Saturday: Heartbreaking. I know I wasn't the only one that fully expected Eau Claire to just light-up La Crosse. UWEC was in full control and never trailed in the game....that is until the final 15 seconds in the fourth quarter. After winning three of its first four, Eau Claire has now dropped two of its last three games, taking itself out of playoff contention. It's remaining schedule doesn't get any easier to coach Todd Glaser's squad as two of its three remaining games will be on the road. With their lone remaining home game being against nationally top-ranked Whitewater next Saturday.
Despite its recent struggles Glaser's QB Austin Neu is having an outstanding season. The junior is leading the WIAC in passing yards per game with 230.4, and second in touchdown with 10. Neu leads a team that averages 28.7 points per game, which ranks third in the WIAC. The junior QB has a pair of very reliable receivers to choose between in David Goodman and Mike O'Connell. Goodman is second in the WIAC in receiving yards per game with 70.7, while O'Connell is fifth in conference in receptions with 4.43 per game. However, the team goes only as far as their passing game will take them. Their rushing game will need to improve upon their 133.9 ypg (third worst in conference). They might have a tough time getting RB Joel Sweeney into a rhythm, as the Pioneers have been doing an excellent job defending the run this season. Sweeney has been very good in goal-line situations, with seven rushing TDs on the season. But the sophomore RB is only averaging 3.9 yards per carry. On the other side of the ball, the Blugolds haven't had a stellar season stopping the run, giving up over 163 ypg (second worst in the WIAC). However, fans might want to pay attention to the fact that Platteville doesn't bring a whole lot to the table as far as a rushing attack. This can be a golden opportunity for the Blugold's defense to plug up the running lanes. The one thing that the Eau Claire defense has been excelling at this season is its pass rush. The Blugolds have 20 QB sacks, which is best in the WIAC. Juniors Jimmy Hall and Pat Hendricks have been both been wreaking havoc on opposing QB's season. They are leading the conference in sacks with 4.5 (Hall) and 4.0 (Hendricks) for the year.Stevens Point Pointers (4-3, 2-2) @ Whitewater Warhawks (7-0, 4-0)
The Pointers looks like they are hitting their stride offensively for the first time this season. I don't think it's a coincidence that they have been averaging over 30 points per game since back-up QB Mitch Beau took over as the signal caller. In the closing minutes of last week's game, Beau led his down field and scored the game-winning touchdown with seconds to go at Eau Claire. After losing three of four earlier in the year, the Pointers have now won two straight. They are showing glimpses of a team that most of us expected when they started off the season ranked 23rd in the country. Whitewater's Levell Coppage is just 53 yards shy from tying Justin Beaver as the team's (and conference's) all-time leading rusher. I have a hunch that he'll surpass that this game. This homecoming game for Whitewater always reminds Warhawk fans of the 2008 homecoming when Point came into Perkins Stadium and upset the Warhawks. The 'Hawks are slowly becoming bitten by the injury bug, but I still don't think that'll be enough to slow down Whitewater this game.
Stout Blue Devils (4-3, 2-2) @ River Falls Falcons (0-7, -04)
Last week the Blue Devils showed what we're used to seeing from its defense, as Stout posted the first shutout this season, 10-0, in WIAC play - for any team. Stout held La Crosse to only 232 yards of total offense last Saturday (3.3 yards per play). So far this year Stout has been holding opponents to just a 30% success rate on 3rd downs, best in the WIAC. However, on the other side of the ball, the offense has had trouble finding the endzone. On the season the Devils are averaging just 16.0 points per game (dead last in the conference). Despite the low-scoring output, Stout has had success moving the ball on the ground as they rank third in the WIAC with 149.1 ypg. That will be a big concern for the Falcons if they wish to win its first game of the year. So far River Falls has been surrendering almost 195 ypg rushing (over five yards per carry) this year. Coach Matt Walker's boys probably played their best game of the year last weekend, but unfortunately lost on the final drive to Platteville. With two of their three remaining games at home, I believe they have a good chance to avoid getting skunked this season.
La Crosse Eagles (2-5, 1-3) @ Oshkosh Titans (5-2, 3-1)
Oshkosh seems to the WIAC's lone hope in being awarded a Pool C bid (assuming that Whitewater doesn't collapse). All Oshkosh has to do is win its remaining three games, then heavily pray that its two loses against the top two teams in the nation is good enough in the playoff committee's eyes to get in. Given how close they played the two-time defending national champs last weekend, they should have little problems finishing the season 8-2. The Titans rank second in just about every offensive category in the WIAC, which could throw fits for La Crosse's third-to-last ranked defense. I imagine La Crosse is very eager to take the field and prove to everyone they're better than its 10-0 shout-out loss last weekend. The Eagles will enjoy nothing more than spoiling any playoff hopes that the Titans might have. Looking at how these two teams have been playing lately, it will take a terrific effort for Joel Dettwiler's Eagles to pull off this huge upset.
Here's to another great week of WIAC football, and hope everyone stays healthy....Cheers!
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